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The Last Days of FOXHOUND
The Last Days of FOXHOUND is a fan webcomic written by Chris Doucette that ran from June 1st, 2003 to June 1st, 2008 at gigaville.com for a 500 strip run. The comic portrays exaggerated caricatures of FOXHOUND during the time period between Metal Gear 2 and Metal Gear Solid, while cheerfully lampooning various aspects of the Metal Gear universe (examples include Ocelot's condition of "Chronic Backstabbing Disorder", Mantis' tantrums at the pseudo-scientific genetics of the Les Enfants Terribles project (often these are rather wide of the mark themselves), and a complete level of confusion among all characters of exactly how the Codec works). Plot Summary The comic begins with Liquid Snake signing up for a job at FOXHOUND, gaining his codename by doctoring "SNAIL" into "SNAKE". During the time at FOXHOUND, Liquid goes on various missions with the other FOXHOUND members, Revolver Ocelot, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis and Decoy Octopus. Across the course of the story, all the members of FOXHOUND go about their jobs whilst gradually learning more and more about the history and secrets of their newest recruit, all the while openly insulting and showing blatant hate for one another (this goes so far as attempting to kill eachother on several occasions, though this applies more to Ocelot than anyone else). Early in the series, it is established that Liquid is suffering from memory loss (explaining his significantly out-of-character incompetence and immaturity). He is haunted (literally) by the memory of Big Boss, who constantly eggs him on to regain his memory and fighting skill. This eventually leads Liquid to develop a deep, underlying jealousy and hatred for his brother, Solid Snake (who is an often mentioned but never seen character in the comic). The story expands greatly when the history of Liquid, Solid and Big Boss is explored in a lot more detail, FOXHOUND learning the full history of Operation Snake Eater and the San Hieronymo Takeover, as well as reading about the Cobra Unit, becoming personally acquainted with The Sorrow and witnessing the memories of Ocelot's birth and his first encounter with Naked Snake. Solidus Snake appears as current President George Sears several times, openly referring to the Patriots and his want to rebel from them, foreshadowing the events of Sons of Liberty. He conspires constantly with Psycho Mantis at first, but then later employs Revolver Ocelot on Mantis' recommendation, establishing their more familiar relationship. Ocelot's triple alliance with the Patriots is never explicitly stated, though is hinted at several times. Another character fuelling her own plotline is Naomi Hunter, then working as a scientist for FOXHOUND on the Genome Soldier project. Gray Fox as the Cyborg Ninja, who she refers to as "Frankie", is at first hardly ever seen without Naomi, after escaping from his test facility very early in the story, and embarking on a mission to get revenge on Solid Snake, almost killing Liquid several times, mistaking him for his brother. Shadow Moses Island, and the plans for ArmsTech to create Metal Gear REX, is introduced fairly early, and occasionally crops up throughout the course of the story. As the story reaches its climax, the FOXHOUND team begin to plan their rebellion using this as a basis. The development of the Genome Soldiers is followed, various jokes lampooning not only the pseudo-scientific genetics that have no basis in reality (and also, embarassingly enough, some that do), but the Genome Soldiers' somewhat lack of intelligence, most notably their over-simple patrol routes and ignorance towards cardboard boxes. In the final few issues, events such as the "accidental" killing of the DARPA chief, the arrival of the Hind D, the completion of Metal Gear REX and Gray Fox' confrontation with Solid Snake (though Solid Snake remains an unseen character, despite various mentions during all of these events) are chronicled. Liquid's arrival in the docks and the deliverance of his line "I'm going to swat down a couple of bothersome flies" to the guards occurs in the penultimate issue. The final issue merely skips to the aftermath of the Shadow Moses Incident, with everyone but Ocelot dead. A short epilogue shows Ocelot after his arm transplant and his phone call with the President, his arm spasming for the first time. Main Characters Liquid Snake Arguably the main character of the series, Liquid is originally only hired into FOXHOUND when he doctors SNAIL into "SNAKE." He is the brother of Solid Snake and Solidus Snake, and like them is one of Big Boss's clones. Big Boss himself appears as a ghost of sorts that comes to Liquid to taunt him by telling him (falsely) that he is genetically inferior to Solid Snake in order to create an inferiority complex that drives many of Liquid's actions. He is typically seen as an idiot by his coworkers, though this can be attributed to his memory loss after he was sucked into the propellors of an F-16 plane. He is primarily motivated by the spirit of his dead father, Big Boss, and his hatred of Solid Snake and his 'superior genes'. Infamous for not dying easily, suffering multiple mental zaps by Psycho Mantis and a sword through his chest by Cyborg Ninja (Aka Grey Fox)during the course of the comic, as well as the punishment he later takes in the game. He gets along reasonably well (by Foxhound standards) with most members of the unit, and has been romantically interested in Sniper Wolf. Appears to be getting smarter after his spirit was displaced and replaced by Big Boss. Liquid was recently promoted to Foxhound's squad leader after Colonel Campbell retired, and has convinced them to aid his revolution against the U.S. government. This revolution, the primary focus of the original Metal Gear Solid game, was doomed to fail, and he, like his FOXHOUND peers, is killed by Solid Snake. Revolver Ocelot A maniac with incredible prowess and aim with a revolver, Ocelot is a skilled liar, easily manipulating the events of both the game and the comic. Throughout the comic, he pretends to be in the employ of President George Sears (actually Solidus Snake). He is generally hated by everyone else in FOXHOUND, particularly Psycho Mantis, particularly after Ocelot reveals his immunity to mind control. He is diagnosed with Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, which naturally causes him to betray everyone he comes into contact with. In addition to his impossible aiming skills, he is an expert at torture and interrogation, having worked for the KGB and Big Boss for many years. He is depicted as a depraved, perverted, who hid a deep attraction for Big Boss, and earning the nickname "Shalashaska" from the Russians for his humiliating methods of torture. It is Ocelot who sets the members of FOXHOUND on their revolutionary path, by participating in a scheme of the Patriots, under the cover of George Sears's plot. In the end, Ocelot is the only surviving member of FOXHOUND, though he loses an arm to the Cyborg Ninja. He is featured in the last comic, having replaced his lost arm with that of Liquid Snake's, which spasms for the first time. Psycho Mantis A powerful telepath and psychic, who is capable of controlling and reading the minds of anyone other than soldiers with certain nanomachines, exceptionally good liars, and other powerful telepaths. For years, he worked for the Patriots, and manipulated by President George Sears. At the Patriots' behest, he briefly quit FOXHOUND, but would later return, discovering that Ocelot had betrayed him. This caused him to go on a murderous rampage, and he succeeded in destroying part of FOXHOUND's base and injuring Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, and Ocelot before Liquid incapacitated him. Mantis is one of the world's most powerful psychics, and is called upon to retrieve Liquid and Ocelot from their comas in the comic. He later delves into Ocelot's memories, and learns of his work with Big Boss. He later acquires an optic camo prototype (which he would later use against Solid Snake). Mantis is arrogant and hateful towards humanity, and particularly hates contact with women, going so far as to refuse to touch Sniper Wolf when she tries to save him from falling off a cliff. He is arguably the most intellectual member of FOXHOUND, and he is often seen protesting the incorrect use of genetics in the Metal Gear games. Like his FOXHOUND peers, he is killed by Solid Snake, and his corpse is shown in the penultimate strip. Sniper Wolf A beautiful, but deadly sniper with a love for dogs and wolves, particularly her own pet wolf Berthold. When tracking a target, she often develops a romantic attraction for them as she waits for her chance to strike. She acquires her signature PSG-1 halfway through the comic's run. Wolf is addicted to the sedative Diazepam, which relaxes her muscles to the point that her body no longer requires sleep. However, this causes her to have a psychotic breakdown every few years, followed by a two-week slumber. She is often seen as the most professional member of FOXHOUND, taking out targets while her coworkers fail miserably. Her strange accent is a running gag throughout the comics, serving as a parody of her voice in the game. Towards the end of the comic, she meets Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, who develops a romantic infatuation with her, though whether she returns these feelings is unknown, as she is killed. Her final appearance in the series is as a corpse, with the wolf Berthold mourning her. Vulcan Raven An Inuit shaman with vaguely phallic weapon. Raven is the most serious member of Foxhound in principle but various jokes are made around him, and he occasionally makes unintentional puns or reveals surprising quirks. Carries a huge Vulcan Cannon, hence his name. Dislikes when others suppose the reason he carries such a large straight cylindrical weapon is to compensate for something. Takes horse tranquilizers infrequently to communicate with the spirits of his tribe and gain visions of the future. He also is moderately psychic, and can communicate with animals, though this is rarely shown. Due to his mystical powers, he often works with Psycho Mantis and serves as a stable counterpart to the irrational psychic. Raven's beliefs prevent him from using CODEC, due to his objections to having unnatural nanomachines put in his body. Extremely strong. Raven gets along fairly well with most members of the team, though Liquid's idiocy and Mantis' sociopathy especially annoy him. His philosophy is that when you kill someone you should not do it half-assedly, so he kills them a lot with his overly powerful weapon. He faces Solid Snake in a cold storage room, but is defeated. Rather than a body, we are shown a room full of blue ravens (which ate him after his defeat). Decoy Octopus FOXHOUND's master of disguise, Decoy Octopus is capable of perfectly mimicking someone's appearance and mannerisms. He is shown as having been in disguise for so long, that he no longer knows what he truly looks like. However, his spiritual form is merely a trench coat and fedora with no face or body. He states that he is more comfortably looking like no-one. Interestingly, when The Sorrow faces him with a test, he is shown to never have killed someone. Typically, he mimics one of his coworkers when not a mission, though he briefly kept the appearance of a fallen enemy since there was a large amount of blood. He is mischievous and fun-loving, and often pranks his fellow FOXHOUND members. Fittingly, he is generally kept in the background, and rarely engages in battle. He is the only FOXHOUND member who does not fight Solid Snake. Instead, he impersonates DARPA's Donald Anderson in order to deceive him. However, he succumbs to Naomi Hunter's FOXDIE, and his corpse (still in Anderson's shape) is shown in the penultimate strip. External links * The Last Days of FOXHOUND category:humour